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Paris - Jordan Thompson made the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time on Thursday and admitted he was happy playing "under the radar" while explosive compatriots Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic grab the headlines -- good and bad -- for Australian tennis.
The 25-year-old Thompson is Australia's last man standing at Roland Garros after making the last 32 by seeing off Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3.
His progress is in marked progress to that of Tomic who lost tamely in the first round while Kyrgios didn't play at all, pulling out with an illness days after claiming the French Open "sucked".
Fellow Australians Alex de Minaur, Matthew Ebden, John Millman and Alexei Popyrin all fell in the first two rounds.
"I am very happy to go under the radar, I'm usually a man of few words," said world number 69 Thompson.
"They (Kyrgios and Tomic) take all the headlines. Alex is our number one and he's a quality player
"But I don't think even he gets that much of the limelight. I think he's pretty happy with that as well."
"I am low down in the pecking order and that's fine with me."
Thompson's win over 40-year-old Karlovic was sweet revenge for the five-set defeat he suffered to the giant Croatian in Paris in 2016, losing the final set 12-10.
"The key with Ivo is not to go serve-to-serve," said Thompson of an opponent who unleashed 23 aces and 57 winners in their second round match.
"I knew that would not work out well so I just tried to move him around and dictate the points."
"But it's hard to play someone like that, he gives you no rhythm at all.
"It's hard to say the tennis was any good because there weren't that many rallies going on."
Next up for Thompson is a clash against former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, the eighth-seeded Argentine who needed five sets to get past Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2.
"Del Potro is big unit, serves well, has a huge forehand, his backhand isn't bad either," said Thompson.
"He's just good all round, he's a quality top 10 player."
Del Potro, a two-time semi-finalist, needed the best part of four hours to see off the 72nd-ranked Nishioka, firing 17 aces and 69 winners.
"I am in the third round of a Slam for the first time. I don't want it to stop here," said Thompson.
Results from the fifth day of the French Open on Thursday (x denotes seeding):
Men
Second round
Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) bt Henri Laaksonen (SUI) 6-1, 6-4, 6-3
Salvatore Caruso (ITA) bt Gilles Simon (FRA x26) 6-1, 6-2, 6-4
Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) bt Radu Albot (MDA) 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (4/7), 6-2
Borna Coric (CRO x13) bt Lloyd Harris (RSA) 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (7/2)
Fabio Fognini (ITA x9) bt Federico Del Bonis (ARG) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x18) bt Taylor Fritz (USA) 6-2, 6-3, 6-2
Dusan Lajovic (SRB x30) bt Elliot Benchetrit (FRA) 6-3, 6-3, 6-4
Alexander Zverev (GER x5) bt Mikael Ymer (SWE) 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3)
Dominic Thiem (AUT x4) bt Alexander Bublik (KAZ) 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 7-5
Pablo Cuevas (URU) bt Kyle Edmund (GBR x28) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 2-1 - retired
Antoine Hoang (FRA) bt Fernando Verdasco (ESP x23) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5
Gael Monfils (FRA x14) bt Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Karen Khachanov (RUS x10) bt Grégoire Barrère (FRA) 6-3, 7-6 (8/6), 0-6, 7-5
Jordan Thompson (AUS) bt Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3
Juan Martín Del Potro (ARG x8) bt Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2
Leonardo Mayer (ARG) bt Diego Schwartzman (ARG x17) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5
Women
Second round
Naomi Osaka (JPN x1) bt Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
Katerina Siniaková (CZE) bt Maria Sakkari (GRE x29) 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (8/10), 6-3
Anna Blinkova (RUS) bt Caroline Garcia (FRA x24) 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
Serena Williams (USA x10) bt Kurumi Nara (JPN) 6-3, 6-2
Andrea Petkovic (GER) bt Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE x25) 4-6, 6-3, 8-6
Ashleigh Barty (AUS x8) bt Danielle Collins (USA) 7-5, 6-1
Simona Halep (ROM x3) bt Magda Linette (POL) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
Mónica Puig (PUR) bt Darya Kasatkina (RUS x21) 6-3, 6-1
Iga Swiatek (POL) bt Wang Qiang (CHN x16) 6-3, 6-0
Amanda Anisimova (USA) bt Aryna Sabalenka (BLR x11) 6-4, 6-2
Irina-Camelia Begu (ROM) bt Karolína Muchová (CZE) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) bt Samantha Stosur (AUS) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
Aliona Bolsova (ESP) bt Sorana Cirstea (ROM) 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/3)
Belinda Bencic (SUI x15) bt Laura Siegemund (GER) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
